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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

A Conversation with Jason LaPier, author of 'Unexpected Rain'

Born
and raised in upstate New York,
Jason LaPier lives in Portland, Oregon
with his wife and their dachshund. In past lives he has been a guitar player
for a metal band, a drum-n-bass DJ, a record store owner, a game developer, and
an IT consultant. These days he divides his time between writing fiction and
developing software, and doing Oregonian things like gardening, hiking, and
drinking microbrew. He is always in search of the perfect Italian
sandwich.

In a domed city on a
planet orbiting Barnard's Star, a recently hired maintenance man has just
committed murder.

Minutes later, the
airlocks on the neighborhood block are opened and the murderer is asphyxiated
along with thirty-one innocent residents.

Jax, the lowly dome
operator on duty at the time, is accused of mass homicide and faced with a
mound of impossible evidence against him.

His only ally is
Runstom, the rogue police officer charged with transporting him to a secure
off-world facility. The pair must risk everything to prove Jax didn't commit
the atrocity and uncover the truth before they both wind up dead.

Can you tell us a
little about your main and supporting characters?

There are two main
characters. Jax is just an operator who works on life support systems inside a
domed city on a distant planet. He's kind of an underachiever, a little lost
and directionless, going through the motions of life, and then everything is
turned upside down when a whole block loses oxygen while he's on duty and he's
arrested for the murder of the residents. Runstom is a law officer in a
corporation called Modern Policing and Peacekeeping - essentially he's a cop
for hire. He's been around a while and should have been promoted to detective,
but because of his background, he's been held back. He seems to be the only one
willing to question whether or not Jax is guilty of the crime and has to make a
choice of whether or not to risk his career to dig deeper.

The third
point-of-view character is an assassin called Dava. She's a significant
character, but her arc is tangential to the murder plot that drives the novel
and so she doesn't get as much "page time" as Jax and Runstom. As a
child, she was "rescued" from the deteriorating Earth, only to find
herself dropped into a dome on another planet and orphaned. As a teen, she was
recruited by the criminal outfit known as Space Waste. Her role will increase
dramatically in Unexpected Rain's sequel.

Are you consciously
aware of the plot before you begin a novel or do you discover it as you write?

I used to do a kind
of partial plot and then just start writing by the seat of my pants. This is
what led to two dead-end, unfinished novels. I discovered that for me to be
successful, I need to plot from beginning to end. Now, let me clarify: my
outlines always have a beginning, middle, and end, but they usually have a
_lot_ of wiggle room in between. I understand the value of pantsing, the
freedom to allow the story to evolve on its own. Personally, I need a minimum
amount of structure to keep my momentum going, but I appreciate a level of
flexibility.

Is it hard to
promote a sci-fi book and where do you start?

I find it very
difficult, to be honest, specifically when you're not writing Young Adult
fiction. In this age of social media, any noise I make feels like I'm shouting
into a windstorm. On the other hand, there was a time when no such outlets
existed and the only way to get your words in front of people was through the
gates of the media.

Right now I feel
like sci-fi is making a comeback. Geeks are cool, and our culture is becoming
more and more accepted. Sadly, this translates to film and TV more easily than
it does the written word, but we're getting there. The great thing about SF
readers is once they get a taste of a story, they want more, more, more,
especially if you manage to create an immersive world for their imaginations to
thrive in.

Have you suffered
from writer’s block and what do you do to get back on track?

Oh, absolutely. A
book is a long journey. Sometimes you're going to get bored, distracted, stuck,
lost. Those are the times that you need the next thing to pull you forward.
Sometimes revisiting my outline helps - and it might mean re-writing some of
that outline. Sometimes freewriting a piece that won't actually be part of the
narrative helps too; I've on occasion taken a step back and written from the
perspective of a non-POV character, such as a villain. The freedom of writing
something related to the story, but not actually going into the book, can
jumpstart creativity and get that momentum back. Lastly, when I just can't get
a scene going, I draw it out. I'm no artist and I would never show those
sketches to anyone, but there's that creative freedom again. It gets the gears
of the imagination working and helps me get lost in the story again, which is
where I need to be to get beyond the block.

What do you like to
do for fun?

I read a ton, of
course, and being a sci-fi lover there are loads of films and TV shows to
consume as well. I try to get outdoor time when I can; my wife and I love to
garden and to hike, and we live in the Pacific Northwest, so there is plenty of great hiking. In my
day job, I'm a software architect, which is actually pretty fun too. Stressful
sometimes, but mostly I really like it.

What do you like the
most about being an author?

I've always sought a
creative outlet. For a long time this was making music (first metal, then
electronic), then it became game design. I'd dabbled with writing on and off
but when I was writing quests for an RPG that I'd been developing in my spare
time, I found I really enjoyed it. It was in 2005 that I started working on a
couple of novels (neither of which ever got finished) and some short stories. I
had the bug, and within a few years I was attending workshops and devouring books
on writing and just getting more serious about it in general. What I like most
about writing as opposed to my other outlets is the freedom I have to control
the process on my own terms. Sure, I take feedback and work with editors and
things like that, but the vision from the beginning is mine, and there's
something empowering about that.

What is the most
pivotal point of a writer’s life?

I think I had
several. The first time I completed an entire novel - after a few false starts
with other novels - I felt like I reached a new level. It was proof that I was
capable of going the distance. Shortly thereafter, I was a finalist in a very
competitive short fiction competition. That was proof that I had talent.

But just knowing I
had the capability and the talent only went so far. I struggled with being
unable to get my work out there, into the hands of agents, publishers, and
readers. I was getting to a point where I thought I might do something
drastic... like, shelve everything and start anew or something. And then I got
the call from HarperVoyager telling me they wanted to publish my book. That
changed everything.

What kind of advice would you give other fiction authors?

Persistence is key.
I have known some talented writers who became too frustrated to continue
because they just couldn't keep the momentum going. Your best shot at success
is to keep at it, day after day. I work a full time job - a demanding job - and
I still find the time to write novels and short stories and blog articles and
whatever else. It's daunting sometimes, but you'll be amazed at what you can
build over time with just an hour or two a day. At first it will be slow going,
but the more you keep at it, the easier it gets. And then extend that
persistence from the act of writing to the act of putting your work out there -
submitting it to contests, magazines, anthologies, agents, and so on. Never
take rejection personally and instead see it as an opportunity to turn around
and share that work with someone else.

FTC Disclosure

Many books reviewed on this blog were received free of charge from the author or the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely our own and are not influenced by any relationship with the author or publisher.